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“Hey, Braeden, we need to go.”   
Little did 12-year-old Braden understand that he was headed towards hospital admission.

Earlier that day, Braden nearly passed out on the basketball court. He was a happy, athletic child, who excelled at several sports.  His mom, Becki, took him for blood work.

Later, Braeden’s parents heard from the doctor’s office: take him to the Emergency Department now.  That’s when Braeden’s dad came to pick him up from his friend’s house, where he’d been playing normally.

My name is Drew Daniels, and as a child I suffered from

I had an article published in 2017 by AAMDSIF and was asked to update everyone.  I will briefly reiterate the first part of my journey and then move forward!

Before diagnosis, Jocelyn’s life was normal, predictable. She was thriving her senior year in college, studying Public Relations. In 2008, she was working, volunteering, attending classes---all the normal activities for a 20-year-old. 

But one day that changed. Extreme fatigue set in, making it difficult to walk a single flight of stairs. At first, she dismissed the fatigue to her rigorous schedule. 

Mark had no symptoms common to bone marrow failure patients.

Not one.

Johnnie Burford was deployed in Korea.  He was a muscular 195-lb athlete, a proud member of the US Army Second Division.  Nothing stopped him from performing his duty.  Yet a rapid weight loss of 100 pounds, coupled with unusual bruising, alerted him that something was very wrong.

Derek was turning 45 and had noticed occasional swelling in his legs. Due to a family history of heart disease, his wife, Amy, was uneasy, noticing this symptom. She encouraged Derek to see his doctor for more thorough testing.